Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Found In New Mexico Cave

Researchers from McMaster University in Canada have found that a rare form of bacteria living in a secluded New Mexico cave for over four million years is impervious to antibiotics.

Lead researcher Dr. Gerry Wright and his team harvested the bacteria from a cave 1,604 feet down in the Lechuguilla Cave at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. While speaking with PlsONE, Wright says the discovery could have major significance for the medical industry:

"Our study shows that antibiotic resistance is hard-wired into bacteria, it could be billions of years old, but we have only been trying to understand it for the last 70 years," said Dr Wright.

"This has important clinical implications. It suggests that there are far more antibiotics in the environment that could be found and used to treat currently untreatable infections."